The Story of Achilles SilverBlade
by mr.undead
Summary: In the year 845 Achilles SilverBlade lived a peaceful and happy life with his father, a blacksmith, in Shiganshina... all of that changed forever when the Colossal Titan attacked I make no claim of ownership to Attack on Titan, the series and all its characters are property of Funimation Entertainment
1. The day the wall crumbled

The day started out the same as any other for the ten year old Achilles SilverBlade, he woke up at sunrise "Achilles! Rise and shine, we've got work to do!" Achilles' father Jacob shouted from the lower floor of their home. Achilles crawled out of bed his short silver hair sticking out in all directions he stood at four feet, five inches tall, he had a large visible scar from a burn on his right hand and he was clad in a cream colored shirt, and a pair of brown pants. Achilles grabbed his black boots and put them on then he brushed the remaining sleep sand from his amber eyes then made his way downstairs and he stretched. Achilles walked over to the window and looked out seeing the sunrise every day was something he always looked forward to; seeing the sun slowly climbing from beyond the horizon and the light bathing the ground below it is a feeling that Achilles would never grow tired of. Once the sun had made itself known Achilles walked into the kitchen to see his mother standing in the kitchen cooking what he assumed would be breakfast "Good morning, sweetheart." Jasmine, Achilles' mother, said in a cheery voice. "Morning mom, where's dad?" Achilles asked as he yawned slightly and stretched. "He's outside by the forge, waiting for you I think." Jasmine replied. "Okay, thanks mom." Achilles replied as he walked out of the room. "I'll call you two in when breakfast is ready." Jasmine said as she waved at Achilles while he walked out of the door of their home. "Alright thanks." Achilles replied before he closed the door behind him. Achilles walked over to the forge area that his family had near their home (this was also the place where he got his burn scar), his father was a blacksmith who made blades, gear, etc. for the military police and many considered him to be one of the best. The crisp morning air flowed through his hair like a river flowing between rocks as he walked over to see his father hammering a hot piece of metal on the anvil "Morning dad." Achilles said as he walked over and grabbed his blacksmith apron and gloves. "Morning son." Jacob said looking up from his work on the blade that he was currently working on briefly then quickly going back to his work. Achilles rolled his eyes as he saw his father do this but after a couple seconds Achilles went over to the chest where he and his father kept resources like ingots, leather, coal, and so forth and collected a few things "Son, can you come and help me hold this blade in place?" Jacob asked as he gripped the glowing hot blade with his forging tongs. "Sure dad." Achilles replied as he placed the materials he just gathered down and grabbed a pair of tongs and went over then he grabbed the blade and held it while his father slammed his hammer against the hot metal. The forging on the blade took roughly an hour until it was completely finished (Jacob had been working on this blade for days prior) Jacob then grabbed the blade using his tongs and placed it into the quenching oil tank after a few moments he took the blade out and heated it back up then quenched it in water, when the blade was finished it was clearly one of the blades used by the military police "Right, forging is done now this just needs to be sharpened." Jacob said but just as he arrived at the grinding wheel to begin to sharpen the blade so it would be able to cut through the flesh of the titans Jasmine called from inside the house "Achilles, Jacob it's time for breakfast." Jasmine called. "Alright mom." Achilles replied as he walked back inside only removing his gloves as he and his father would have to get right back to work after they ate. And Jacob left the blade he'd only just finished leaning against his grinding wheel as he walked inside. The three of them took their places at the table and ate a simple meal of bread and milk. Breakfast was finished quickly and Achilles and his father quickly got back to work, Achilles' father finished grinding the blade he had been working on then he took the blade and walked over to a large haybale which was roughly as thick as the skin on a titan and he swung the blade, the blade cut through the bale with ease and Jacob smiled as he looked at his reflection in the blade. Suddenly a flash of yellow lighting was seen striking the ground outside the wall "What the hell was that?!" Achilles shouted as he left the forge and looked out at the wall then he saw a gigantic hand covered by just muscle no skin grab onto the top of the wall "That's... not possible." Achilles said in awe. Soon he saw another hand grab the top of the wall again "Oh dear God!" Jacob said stunned as looked out to see what was going on. Then they saw a giant head again covered with only muscle and no skin "It's a titan..." Jacob said stunned. Suddenly the Titan reared its giant foot back and smashed a hole in the first wall, Wall Maria, and just as suddenly as it appeared the monstrous Colossal Titan disappeared. Achilles and his family quickly ran out of their house as titans of all shapes and sizes began to pour into Shinganshina. the three of them ran frantically through the crowd of terrified people Achilles had thrown away his apron to allow him to run faster but seconds later Achilles stopped and looked back to see if any titans were close to them and when he turned back a man bumped into him sending Achilles to the ground "Son! Are you hurt?" Jacob asked as he and Jasmine helped Achilles to his feet. Achilles shook his head "Good, now come one we must get out of here quickly!" Jacob said. But shortly after they started running again they heard a loud noise behind them besides all of the screaming and when Achilles' parents turned around they were horrified to see a bolder flying straight at them. In a split second decision Jacob shoved Achilles away "We love-" Jacob said before being cut off by the boulder reducing him and his wife to nothing. Achilles passed out but was awakened to see the aftermath of what happened to his parents and he saw his father's hand sticking out from under the boulder but he didn't have much time to think about it as seconds later a military police person showed up "Can you stand up? If you can get to the boat." The person ordered as he helped Achilles to his feet Achilles soon looked at his father's hand again and saw his wedding band around the middle finger but he didn't have much time to think about it and he just started to run to the boat that was taking people out of the city. Tears streamed from Achilles' amber eyes as he quickly began running to the boat without a second thought, while the titans stomped around grabbing and eating people some of them were still alive as they were being eaten. Achilles then heard a loud crash behind him and glanced back to see another new type of titan, this one had much visible muscle all over its body, had white hair and its body was cov ered in multiple armor plates, an armor plate that covered its mouth cracked open which revealed its teeth as it spewed out a stream of hot white steam. Achilles made it aboard the boat and leaned against the side with his knees pulled closely to his chest as tears continued to rain down from his eyes while images of his parents and titans kept flashing through his mind. "I'll kill every last one of you." Achilles heard someone say. Achilles then looked up to see a boy roughly the same age as Achilles himself looking over the side of the boat they were on. "There won't be a single titan left in the world once I'm through with you." He heard the boy say. the boy was wearing brown shoes, a pair of black pants, a very faded yellow shirt, a brown overcoat, he had short brown hair, and his eyes were bluish green. Next to him was another young boy this one had blonde hair that went down passed his ears, a blue overcoat, a gray dress shirt, a pair of brown pants and a pair of brown shoes the blonde boy's eyes were a grayish color. And the last person with him was a young girl again about the same age as Achilles she had long black hair that reached her shoulders, she wore a red scarf around her neck, she had a pink coat and a white dress she also had a pair of brown leather shoes, and her eyes were an icy blue color. Achilles clenched one of his fists as his grief started to turn to rage directed toward the monsters who had just taken his family from him "I'll take back our home, I promise father..." Achilles mumbled between sobs.


	2. Chapter 2 Training

In the year 847 two years after the Colossal Titan had destroyed wall Maria, the now twelve year old Achilles enlisted in the military and joined the 104th Cadet Corps. During orientation all of the cadets were greeted by Head instructor Keith Shadis; Keith was an older man looking like he was in his early fifties or late forties, he had a look in his eye of extreme aggression, he had no hair on top of his head but he did have a small goatee. First he went to the blonde boy that Achilles had seen on the boat during his escape from Shiganshina, Achilles recognized the boy as the only thing that had really changed about him was his height "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. The blonde boy did a solute "Armin Arlelt, from Shiganshina District!" The blonde boy replied. "I see, what a stupid name, did your parents give it to you?" Keith said in disgust. "My grandfather, gave it to me, sir." Armin replied. "Alright, Arlelt! Why are you here?!" Keith demanded. Several other recruits looked around nervously. "I am here to help humanity gain victory over the titans!" Armin replied as Keith looked down at him. "That's great, you're gonna make a nice snack for the titans." Keith said as he leaned in slightly. Keith then placed his hand on Armin's head and spun him around "Third row! About face!" Keith said. The rest of the people in Armin's group turned around to face the second row of cadets. Keith then walked up to another cadet who had short brown hair which was basically shaved on either side, and green eyes. Keith glared down at the cadet "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. The cadet saluted Keith in the same way Armin did only moments ago "Jean Kirschtein, from the Trost District." The cadet replied. "And why are you here?!" Keith asked angrily. "To join the military police and live in the interior." Jean replied looking nervous. "Ah so you want to live on the interior eh?" Keith asked. "Yes, sir!" Jean replied. Keith then slammed his head down on Jean's which caused Jean to fall to his knees in pain. "Who said you could sit?! If you can't handle this, you should forget the military police." Keith replied. Finally he came to Achilles "What do they call you?!" Keith demanded. Achilles now stood at five feet and nine inches tall, his silver hair had grown and was tied up in a pony tail behind his head, he had a scar on the bridge of his nose which came from a blade of some kind, he appeared to be relatively scrawny but was still strong, and he wore the normal cadet uniform. He looked up at Keith without showing any fear "My name is Achilles SilverBlade, of the Shiganshina District." Achilles replied. "SilverBlade, is it? Another good-for-nothing, pathetic-sounding name! What are you doing here, kid?" Keith asked glaring down at Achilles. "I am here to reclaim Shiganshina and help humanity in the war on the titans." Achilles replied. "Good we can put you on the front line and let the titans tear you apart." Keith sneered. Keith then turned to the side "Alright, 104th cadets, listen up! Currently all you're good for is feeding the titans to slow them down! But we're going to teach you how to fight them! So if you don't want to become Titan food, I suggest you learn and learn quickly." The head instructor said angrily. "Today, you'll be learning how to use ODM gear properly. If any of you dopes are feeling clumsy, pick up your gear right now and head back to the interior! ... Alright, let's see some action!" Keith shouted. Everyone gave Keith a solute in unison. All of them soon picked up their ODM gear and put it on, a flare was seen going off not far from them so Achilles acting on instinct hit one of the triggers on his blades' handle which launched the first grappling hook onto one of the rocks near them and in what felt like seconds Achilles made it to the next training area where targets resembling mostly four meter titans and a couple probably ten meter tall titans, Achilles used his gear like he was an expert and swung from one target to the other and slicing what would be the titan's vitals if they were real in a matter of moments "Impressive, SilverBlade." Keith said as he watched while on the back of a horse. Keith soon called the session to a halt "Alright now let's see how you'd fair against some smaller titans." Keith said. Some machines on the ground then caused four wooden cutouts designed to look like four and five meter titans to be propped up "Let's see what you can do!" Keith shouted. Achilles and the other recruits activated their ODM gear again, Achilles' gear latched on to one of the dummies and using propelled himself forward then using some of the gas contained within the small tanks on Achilles' gear sped up dramatically and used his blades to slice a chunk out of the back of the dummy's neck which would've been more than enough to kill a live titan. Achilles propelled himself forward again toward another dummy and executed it the same way, and did the same thing to another Titan dummy before running out of breath and landing Keith began clapping "Very impressive, now let's see how you handle some bigger targets." Keith said. "Head down that way." Keith said as he pointed to the exit of the training area they were in. The cadets all soluted Keith "Yes, sir!" They all replied. Achilles and the other recruits made their way to the next training area in record time and when they did a fifteen meter tall titan dummy was erected with pads on the backs of its neck and its thigh "Depending on the titan there can be multiple places to attack! Make sure to hit with as much precision as possible." Keith shouted. Achilles launched one of the hooks from his ODM gear and it latched on to the wooden target and using his blades he sliced the target right across the heal, then he propelled himself upward and sliced where the vitals would be if the Titan was real causing the target to fall over with a loud thud. This happened each time a target's vitals were struck.

"Right, now we start the final drill of the day!" Keith said. The recruits all moved into a forest with massive trees, rocks, etc. everywhere "This time there will be multiple targets scattered through out the area, find and destroy them as quickly as possible!" Keith ordered. Achilles swung effortlessly from one tree to the other and spotted his first target while he was still more than ten meters off the ground; the target was of a five meter titan, using his gear Achilles launched a grappling hook down at the target and do to the momentum that being in a high position granted him when he sliced through the pad on the back of the target's neck the blades caused a huge crack to appear that nearly caused the target's head to fall clean off and causing the target to fall onto its side, while Achilles landed on the ground safely with little to no signs of injury. Achilles activated his gear once again flying from tree to tree effortlessly until he came across his next target: A target of a fifteen meter tall titan with the pads on its thigh and neck Achilles launched one grappling hook that caused him to swing toward the thigh of the target and this time it actually severed the leg off the target, Achilles then launched himself upwards and then once he felt he was high enough in the air he retracted his grappling hook and performed a perfect backflip then he used his grappling hooks to pull himself toward the back of the target's neck and deliver what would've been a fatal blow to a live titan. Achilles passed a girl with pale skin, gray eyes, and short black chin-length hair and a red scarf around her neck "Even in training I can't leave Eren alone." She said to herself as she propelled herself in another direction. Achilles didn't have time to think anything of it while he and the other cadets were flying from one tree to another executing the titan dummies that is until someone ran out of gas and started to fall "Oh no!" Achilles said before impulsively using his ODM gear to fly over to the person who was falling from almost thirty feet in the air and caught them seconds before they hit the ground "You okay?" Achilles asked as he landed on the ground with very little trouble "Y-yeah, I'm fine." The person said. Achilles could get a good look at them now the person was a girl less than half Achilles' height with short blonde hair, eyes blue like the sky, and flawless pale skin. Achilles set her down and launched himself into the air again, flying through the air like an arrow "Time to announce your mid-session grades!" Keith shouted. "SilverBlade, currently you're ranking second behind Mikasa!" Keith shouted but neither of them paid much attention to him, they along with everyone else were still training. This continued until all of the targets had fallen "Right then, lets see how you all did." Keith said. "Reiner Braun! You rank first." Keith said. "They should put me in the top percentage." muscular-looking with short blonde hair said with a cocky smile. "That ends todays training session! Anyone who wishes to may keep training by themselves." Keith shouted. Achilles, Reiner, and a slightly skinnier boy with short black hair and gray eyes decided to stay a while longer and Achilles was using his ODM gear very well until he came to the last target; he launched his grappling hooks at the target but the hooks broke off the target seconds later causing the cords to retract and causing Achilles to fall "Oh Shit!!" Achilles shouted. Achilles was about to hit the ground when Reiner (the muscular-looking boy) flew in and grabbed him "Are you alright?" Reiner asked. "Grab him, let's hall him up!" Reiner said. The skinnier boy from before showed up and grabbed Achilles from the other side, together the two of them hoisted Achilles up into a large tree once the three of them were up there Reiner and the other boy put their hands on their knees and started breathing heavily "God, that was reckless! Way to lose position!" Reiner reprimanded. "But everything worked out fine, now let's head back." The other boy said. "Sounds good to me, by the way I didn't get your name." Achilles said gesturing to the boy who helped Reiner save him. "Oh, it's Bertholdt, nice to meet you." The newly-dubbed Berthold replied. "Likewise, I'm Achilles." Achilles replied.

The three of them made their way back to the barracks by the time the sun had just started to set, as Achilles walked through the barracks he was suddenly stopped by someone a boy roughly Achilles' age but a few feet shorter the boy had short brown hair, bluish green eyes, and wore the same uniform Achilles wore. "Tough training today huh?" The boy asked. "Yeah, by the way I didn't get your name." Achilles replied. "It's Eren, I saw during orientation you weren't scared of Keith in the slightest." The boy replied. "Nice to meet you Eren, I'm Achilles." Achilles replied with a smile. "...Oh that reminds me, Keith was looking for you earlier. You can probably find him at the training grounds if you go now." Eren replied. "Oh okay thanks Erin." Achilles said before running off to find Keith. "See you at you later." Eren said as he waved.

Achilles entered the training ground standing in front of two cadets; one was a girl about four feet tall with long black hair, but Achilles couldn't see her face because she had her back to him. And a boy only about a foot taller than the girl with short blonde hair however he also had his back to Achilles "Alright, you maggots! If you're not in it to win it, you can pack your things and ship out to the interior right now!" Keith shouted. Keith turned to the boy "Thomas Wagner! Even a waste of space like you could make it in the Interior! They're low on numbers son." Keith said. Keith then turned to the girl "And you! Mina Carolina! Born in a pigsty weren't you? Then go back and live with the swine, kiddo! Titans don't eat pork!... Although I dunno if the pigs would even take a runt like you in!" Keith said. Keith walked away and walked passed Achilles without even regarding him, Achilles then walked over to the two cadets and they turned to him revealing Thomas' gray eyes and Mina's blue ones. "He didn't need to be that harsh. I'm doing my best." Thomas said as he looked over at Mina. Mina looked up at Achilles with tears welling up in her eyes "I don't know how much more of this I can stand... Maybe the life of a pig IS better than this." Mina said. Achilles looked down at the two of them "Don't let it get to you." Achilles replied. "Well that's easy for you to say, you handle the ODM gear like a pro." Thomas said. "Yeah, how'd you even learn to use it so well?" Mina asked. "Well when I was younger my dad used to take me to deliver blades and other weapons to the Survey Corps outside the wall, and while he did that I'd often watch the recruits train, and I learned from watching them." Achilles explained. "Okay, but how exactly do I not let it get to me?" Mina asked as she placed a hand on her hip. Thomas looked down sadly "I don't know if we're going to make it like this." He said sadly. Thomas looked up and crossed his arms "And to be honest, I really don't know how to improve my training results." Thomas said. "I know! I'm trying my hardest already, and look where it's gotten me. What do you think we should do SilverBlade?" Mina asked. Achilles thought for a second "Well I learned pretty much everything I know from watching the recruits so why don't you try that? Observe the like Reiner and Mikasa and try to copy what they do." Achilles suggested. "Watch and learn...? Well there are certainly a lot of really talented people among our group, I suppose if we studied their strong points, it could help us improve." Mina said with a smile. Thomas perked up "Study their strong points, eh? Yeah, if we made a conscious effort to do that, it could really make a difference." Thomas said. "Alright, so why don't we each try that and meet together again later to compare our results? You can join too, SilverBlade, I mean it was your idea, right?" Thomas said excitedly. Achilles simply smiled at him and turned to leave but before Achilles could leave the training grounds he was stopped by none other than Keith "You need to push yourself to strengthen your skills. And learn from your peers. Some are very talented." Keith said. Achilles stood tall not breaking eye contact with Keith but didn't reply "Rookies like you need to spend a lot of time with other soldiers, identifying their strengths and trying to mimic them." Keith said in an overly serious tone. "I know sir." Achilles replied. "Alright, we're done here. Get back to the barracks." Keith replied before stepping out of Achilles' way. Achilles nodded and walked passed Keith and through the door to the training grounds, Achilles then made his way back to the barracks where the rest of the soldiers were.

Shortly after entering the barracks Achilles was greeted by Eren "I guess you found Sadies, then?" Eren said. "Yeah." Achilles replied. "What did he have to say?" Eren asked curiously. "Well first he was yelling at two cadets for not being good enough and told me that I need to learn from my peers." Achilles explained. "Oh, hey we've got some night-time training later right? Man, my mind's willing by my body has had enough." Eren said. "Don't give up." Achilles replied. Even though he was pretty worn out too he still knew he could push himself further. "Yeah, you're right. If I want to be a titan killer I need to push myself hard." Eren replied as a look of determination filled his eyes. Achilles smiled and he made his way across the barracks, he figured he should get to know his comrades better since they were all gonna be together here for a long time. He kept walking until he saw the girl who he had saved before and went over to her "Hey, you okay from earlier?" Achilles asked. "Yeah I'm fine thanks, and by the way my name is Christa." The girl replied. "Well Christa, it's nice to properly meet you, my name is Achilles." Achilles replied. Christa smiled "Everyone seems pretty tired don't they? By the way I heard you almost had an accident during training this afternoon. Are you okay?" Christa asked. "Yeah, I'm fine thanks to Reiner and Bertholdt. Thanks for your concern." Achilles replied as he looked down at her and smiled. Christa blushed very slightly "I was really worried! Don't do anything rash next time, okay?" Christa replied. "Not like I did it on purpose." Achilles replied. "Right, it'd probably be a good idea to rest up in preparation for our next bout of training today." Christa replied. "Good idea, but I'm gonna keep looking around for a while." Achilles replied as he walked off. Achilles found Jean next "Damn, that training was HARD! But you won't hear me complaining. After all, if I want to make it into the military police I've gotta get my grades up." Jean said. "You'll manage it, Jean." Achilles replied. "Yeah, I know I will." Jean said with an aura of confidence beaming from him. Achilles walked across the barracks for a while longer until he was stopped by a young woman with light gold eyes and brown hair kept in a ponytail that reached the base of her neck. Her bangs were slightly parted to the left, cascading down each side of her face and stopped around the middle of her neck who was nibbling at a potato. "Man, I'm always so hungry after training. Isn't there any meat or anything lying around out here?" She asked. "Kitchen would be the best place to look." Achilles said. The girl giggled "You think there's meat in the scouts kitchen? Wouldn't count on it. Could be potatoes though. Maybe I should go check it out." She said. "Yeah maybe, what's your name by the way?" Achilles asked. "Sasha Blouse, What's yours?" She replied with a smile. "Achilles SilverBlade." Achilles replied. Sasha's smile soon faded "We're not done with training for today, are we? Man I'd better get something to eat quickly." Sasha said. "Yeah probably." Achilles said with a chuckle before walking away. Achilles made his way through the barracks until he heard someone call out "Hey you there!!" A male voice called. Achilles turned around to see a tall, well-built man with short blond hair, and a thin dark mustache. He wore the typical uniform of the Garrison Regiment walking up to him "Me?" Achilles replied. "Yeah you. You dropped something." The man said before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a small leather bound book. "What is this? A journal or something?" The man asked. Achilles stayed silent as he took the journal back from the man "Right, well try not to drop anything else if you can help it." The man said. Achilles chuckled "I will." Achilles replied. "So, you're one of the 104th corps cadets eh?" The man asked. "Thanks for bringing me back my journal. And yes I'm in the 104th corps, are you in the Garrison Regiment?" Achilles asked. "Yes, My name is Hannes." The man replied. "I'm Achilles." Achilles replied. "Since you're in the 104th corpse, then you probably know Eren Jaeger don't you?" Hannes asked. "Yeah, he's in my corps too. And we were both in Shiganshina when the Colossal Titan appeared." Achilles replied. "Oh? You were in Shiganshina too, eh? Like Eren and me, and the others." Hannes replied. "Well if that's the case you probably know Armin and Mikasa too, I guess. They're 104th cadets from Shinganshina too, They've lost their real parents so... Well, I'm kind of like a father to them now. Or something like that anyway." Hannes said. Achilles didn't respond as he thought back to the fateful day he lost his parents. "Well since you're from our district too, feel free to come to me if there's ever a problem okay?" Hannes asked. "Yeah thanks, I appreciate it." Achilles replied. Hannes smiled and crossed his arms "Right well, maybe next time bring along Eren and the others along with you, huh?" Hannes said. "Well uh... I gotta go and sorry about looking in your journal before." Hannes said scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "It's fine." Achilles said waving his hand dismissively. "I've gotta say I'm impressed with your attention to detail, that's something we need in our troops." Hannes said with a smile before walking off.

Achilles walked around the barracks some more absent mindedly until he literally bumped into the girl from before with the black chin-length hair now that Achilles could actually get a good look at her he noticed something he hadn't noticed before she was fairly tall her head reaching up to Achilles' shoulder, physically fit, and well-toned woman with muscles lined throughout her arms, legs, and abs. She is of partial , with pale skin, gray eyes, and as stated before she had chin-length black hair. "She's beautiful." Achilles thought to himself. This thought caused him to blush very slightly but he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. "Oh sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Achilles apologized. "It's fine." The girl said with a blank expression. "I'm Achilles by the way." He said as he reached out his hand she shook his hand "I'm Mikasa." She replied. "I noticed you were hanging around Eren a lot, any particular reason?" Achilles asked. Achilles wasn't sure what prompted him to ask this "He's my brother and the only family I have left." Mikasa replied keeping that same blank expression. "Well, I suppose I'll see you around." Achilles said before he walked off. "Yeah, see you around." Mikasa replied. Eventually Achilles came across Armin standing outside just kind of thinking about something "Hey you're Armin, right?" Achilles said. "Yeah how'd you know?" Armin asked. "I saw you during orientation." Achilles replied. "So what did you think about that training this afternoon?" Achilles asked curious of what Armin would say. "It was really tuff. I was really struggling to keep up." Armin replied. Armin cracked a smile "But I was very impressed with how well thought-out it was. It really brought the stuff I've been studying to life. Oh yeah, didn't Reiner help you out in the training earlier? You should probably say thanks don't you think?" Armin said. "Yeah, you're right, where are they?" Achilles asked. Armin pointed behind him "Around the corner over there." Armin replied. "Thanks." Achilles replied before walking off to see Reiner and Bertholdt, he walked passed the building Armin was standing in front of and rounded the corner to find both Reiner and Bertholdt in an alley over there "Oh, it's you. Don't tell me you've sought us out to say thanks?" Bertholdt said. Reiner smiled slightly "We help each other out, right? That's what a soldier does. No need to make a big deal out of it every time." Reiner said. "Yeah but still I might be dead if I had hit the ground so thanks guys." Achilles said. Reiner chuckled "Yeah and 'oh shit' would've been terrible last words." Reiner commented causing Achilles and Bertholdt to also chuckle. Eren suddenly ran around the corner into the alley where the three of them were standing followed by Armin "Reiner! Bertholdt!" Eren shouted. "You guys too? What's the deal?" Reiner asked. "You're both experts in ODM gear right? Can you give me some pointers? Please?" Eren asked.

The five of them went into the soldier office which was currently empty so they could talk in being interrupted "... Sorry Eren, there isn't really much for me to tell you." Reiner said. "Damn..." Eren replied. "So tell me, you three are all from Shiganshina right? You know first hand what titans can do, what made you sign up for the survey corps?" Bertholdt asked. "For me, I couldn't just stand idly by and watch humanity crumble after I lost my family to the regime's ridiculous territory reclaiming strategy." Armin replied. "So... Where are you two from originally?" Armin asked trying to change the subject. "Both me and Reiner come from a small village in the mountains southeast of wall Maria." Bertholdt explained. "So..." Eren said confused. "There was no time for us to get word back to the village when the titans showed up that day. I don't remember too much about what happened after that. I signed up hoping to join the military police and serve behind wall Sina, but if that's no good, maybe I'll jack it all in... It's not like I can decide." Bertholdt replied. "It's a good thing that you see the value of your own life you know." Armin said. Reiner smiled. "I just want to get back to my hometown. That's all I'm really interested in. What about you, Eren?" Reiner asked. "The day that the Colossal and Armored Titans I vowed to slay every last titan on earth with my bare hands if that's what's necessary." Eren replied. "Nice, what about you Achilles? What made you want to sign up?" Reiner asked. "I lost my family when that Armored titan showed up in Shinganshina, I swore I'd either kill that thing or die trying." Achilles replied. "Ah, you were there too? My mother was killed that day..." Eren said looking saddened. "No surprise you want to become a cadet after that. For revenge..." Armin said. "Yeah I can see that." Bertholdt said in agreement. Reiner smiled "Well, sounds like I'm not the only one who wants to reclaim their home. But to do that we must train." Reiner said. "I wonder if that day will ever come." Armin said. Reiner shrugged "Who knows? But one thing's for damn sure, if we don't try, nothing's gonna change. The first step is joining the corps." Reiner said. "Yeah, that's right." Eren replied. "Exactly." Achilles said before they all walked out of the room "Ya know we've got night training after dark today, remember? We should probably get some rest before that." Eren said. "Yeah I'll go take a nap." Achilles said with a chuckle. Eren chuckled too "Yeah you've got the right idea." Eren replied. Achilles went to the room with the beds for the cadets and crawled into one of them after this, he set his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes

Night came in what only felt like minutes Achilles was woken up by Eren shaking him slightly "Come on, it's time for night training." Eren said. Achilles sat up and stretched "Right let's go." Achilles said as he followed Eren out to the training grounds. Achilles, Eren, Sasha, Mikasa, and several other cadets all stood in line at attention with Keith standing in front of them "Okay, troops, let's get this special night time training underway!" Keith shouted. "This drill is different as it won't be testing your individual abilities. Instead it's going to test your intra-squad cooperative skills and tactical abilities." Keith explained. "Squad assignments are previously communicated. So, once you've made all your preparations, move to your designated locations. Let's go!" Keith ordered. Achilles' team consisted of: a boy standing roughly five feet tall, he had a slim build, gray eyes, and his hair was shaved completely who Achilles found out was named Conny. Sasha was also part of Achilles' team. Another boy about four inches taller than Conny and with a short crop of spiky light hair; his name was Daz. And the last member of Achilles squad was a boy named Marco who was of average height with a broad, muscular build, he had short, parted black hair, freckles, and light brown eyes. Conny had his hands behind his head casually "I didn't follow exactly what he was saying, but sounds like a walk in the park... For a genius like me anyway." Conny said with a cocky tone in his voice. "Okay, so this is very different from our normal training, but just leave it to me. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the forest." Sasha said. "Why do we even have training at this hour? I just want to go back to bed..." Daz whined. "The instructor said he'd be judging us based on our cooperative skills, I wonder how well this will go." Marco said curiously. Conny put his arms at his sides "Only one way to find out! Let's do this!" Conny said excitedly. Almost an hour later the five of them were stranded, low on gas, on their last set of blades, and out of breath "We aren't working together the way I had hoped we would. If we can't change this..." Achilles thought to himself worriedly. "Dammit, why isn't this working out? Everyone's pulling their weight." Conny said scratching the back of his head. "We've got almost no gas, or blades left. Thanks to you going all out the entire time, Conny." Sasha said angrily. "When it comes to cooperation, this trigger-happy squad was doomed from the start, right?" Daz said sadly. "If this keeps up we'll be forced to split up. We have to do something..." Marco said. "We need to replenish our fuel and blades and regroup." Achilles said. "Yeah, that's a good idea and this time let's make sure we're properly prepared." Marco said nodding. "Alright, in that case, I say that Achilles should lead our squad, what do you say? You seem to have a knack for keeping us in sync." Marco said. Achilles nodded "Leave it to me." Achilles replied determination filling his eyes. "Right, I'll do what I can to help out as well feel free to call out if you need a hand from me, or any of us." Marco said. "Very well then, we're in your hands! Take the lead, and get us into shape, captain!" Marco said excitedly. Conny smiled "Time to give the others a little surprise." Conny said. "Right then, let's turn the tables but first we have to resupply." Marco said. "There's a base we can stop at to replenish our gear not far down the path, let's head there." Achilles said.

Achilles and his squad made there way over to the base at breakneck speed, and they had resupplied in a matter of moments. "We're all stocked up on blades and gas! Now let's head to the meeting point." Sasha said excitedly. "You read my mind." Achilles replied before he and the rest of his squad activated their gear and swinging from one tree to the other and even running up several. Keith was waiting for them at the meeting spot "You're late, that means you're dead last! What took so long?!" Keith demanded. "S-sorry sir!" Marco said quickly. "Hmmph... anyway you're now going to practice attacking titans as a group!" Keith said as a fifteen meter titan dummy was erected behind them. The five of them scattered in various directions "Sasha, Conny go for the leg!" Achilles shouted as he propelled himself through the air. Sasha and Conny swung around and sliced the dummy across the pad on the leg "Marco, the neck!!" Achilles ordered. Marco swung in and sliced the neck half deep enough to kill a real titan and Achilles flew in and delivered the killing blow seconds later. Another titan dummy was standing not far from where they were "Daz the leg!" Achilles shouted. Daz flew in and sliced the pad on the dummy's leg which would've only been a flesh wound if it were real. Achilles flew in and sliced across the titans neck only half way yo be enough to kill a real titan "Sasha finish it!" Achilles shouted as he propelled himself away. Sasha did as he said and sliced the pad which would've been enough to kill a real titan band the dummy fell easily "Not bad, now get started on the rest of the dummies." Keith ordered. Achilles and his squad propelled themselves away and for the next several hours Achilles' squad and Eren's squad all went through out the forest taking out the dummies like it was nothing. While that happened someone informed Keith about how Achilles and his squad ran out of gas and blades earlier "So SilverBlade, you and your squad ran out of gas and blades...I never thought you'd be able to Rally like that. But SilverBlade you brought it all together and made it happen." Keith thought to himself as he watched the groups train. Achilles and his squad kept taking out the dummies even when other groups stopped to argue about someone going off alone or something "Wow, we're doing pretty well." Conny said as the tenth dummy fell. They took down another one seconds later "Yeah maybe we can do this." Daz said with a slight smile. "It's all thanks to Achilles... You're doing a good job keeping pace with everyone else." Marco said as Achilles flew passed him. This rigorous training continued for a couple of hours until Keith called it all to a halt "Well done, but the top squad goes to Eren Jaeger." Keith shouted. Achilles patted Eren on the back "Nicely done Eren." Achilles said. "Thanks, I saw you guys did pretty well too." Eren replied looking up at Achilles. "Now training is finished! Give yourselves a break!... Dismissed!" Keith shouted.

All of the groups returned to the training grounds shortly after an assistant stood next to Keith as the other recruits conversed "These latest recruits look well matched. I think we can expect great things from them." The assistant said to Keith. "While Ackerman's an obvious ace... I'd say your top students are pretty well decided anyway." The assistant said. Keith nodded "Yeah, a lot of them show promise. But a good soldier is more than his or her own abilities. Most titan encounters boil down to teamwork. Sometimes how well you cooperate with your comrades is what saves your skin." Keith said as he looked at the recruits. "That's what this kind of training is about. Finding who is a team player and who isn't." Keith said. Keith said as he watched Achilles and his team chat. "I don't know how you did it, but somehow we're back on track. Thanks!" Marco said happily as he looked over at Achilles. Achilles smiled at Marco "It's thanks to everyone pulling together." Achilles replied. "No, it's thanks to you! This cooperation stuff is WAY more important than I first realized. T think we're gonna ace training!" Conny said hopefully. "Hmm you don't often find a soldier who can pull a group together just like that and get them to perform at their best, but this time... We seem to have found someone with that innate ability." Keith thought to himself as he watched the cadets for a minute longer before walking away.

In the room where the males of the 104th squad were meant to sleep as everyone got ready to bunker down for the night "Hey, Achilles?" Eren said. "Yeah?" Achilles asked as he sat on his bed and removed his boots. "How'd you get that burn scar on your hand?" Eren asked curiously. Achilles removed his boots then his jacket and turned to face Eren "You see back in Shinganshina my father was a blacksmith and he was teaching me his craft, but the one day I didn't listen to him about wearing protective gloves was the day a glowing hot steel ingot fell right on my hand, left me with a few third degree burns and this nasty scar." Achilles explained showing Eren his scarred hand.

After three years of training in the corps, the soldiers learned the skills they knew they needed to face the titans head on. Upon graduation all of the grueling training, they were assigned to one of three regiments. Military Police, charged with maintaining the law and order among the population and serving directly under the king, they wear a mark that displays a shield with a unicorn in front of it. Garrison, charged with reinforcing the walls, and protecting the territory within them they wear a mark that displays a shield with two roses in front of it. And the Scout Regiment, those who venture beyond the safety of the walls into titan territory... those in this regiment wear an emblem that shows shield with two wings in front of it; wings of freedom. While many hope to go into the Military Police Regiment only the top ten graduates are given the luxury to choose. All of the cadets stood at attention at graduation not much had changed with them except all of them had grown at least a foot, Achilles now stood at seven feet and nine inches tall. All of the cadets stood at attention as Keith walked up in front of them all, all of the cadets saluted at once "I will now announce our top ten graduates... Step forward when your name is called." Keith ordered. "Number ten, Christa Lenz! Number nine, Sasha Braus! Number eight, Conny Springer! Number seven! Marco Bodt! Number six, Jean Kirschtein! Number five, Eren Jaeger! Number four, Anne Leonhart! Number three, Bertholdt Hoover! Number two, Reiner Braun! And our top-ranking graduate, Mikasa Ackermann!" Keith called out each of these people one by one. Each one stepped into line as their names were called "That is the top ten. But these results are based on scores during training..." Keith said before walking passed the line of people. "Whether you can put your skills to use in an actual battle is another matter entirely. Those of you who didn't rank should think long and hard... What can you do? What should you try to achieve? Tomorrow you'll be asked which Regiment you'd like to be assigned to! The 104th Corps is hereby disbanded... That is all!" Keith said.

Everyone returned to the barracks right after the graduation ceremony the first thing Achilles did was make his way into the soldier office where Mina and Thomas were waiting for him "Hey, we've been waiting for you, SilverBlade! Too bad we both couldn't make it into the top ten..." Thomas said slightly sadly. "Still, all of those debriefings weren't for nothing right? I think we're way better soldiers now." Thomas said. "And now that we've graduated from the Cadet Corps, what do you say we check back on the things we've learned before we officially join up?" Mina asked. The three of them got together and explained what they had learned; Thomas explained that by spending time with Eren and Armin he learned from Eren that soldiers must have a lot of fighting spirit, and from Armin he learned to be smart and determined not to lose. Mina explained that from Mikasa she learned that keeping control of your emotions is a very strong necessity, and from Christa she learned that you must be mindful not just about what's happening in front of you but also what's happening all around you. Achilles had mostly spent time Around Erin, Bertholdt, and Reiner so the only thing he learned is that one of if not the most important thing in any fight is to work together. "So I suppose that wraps it up, this has been very interesting." Thomas said. "Yeah, I think it's been really helpful getting to know some of the others better. And I've learned so much." Mina said. Achilles smiled at them "You both seem really motivated now." Achilles said. "Yeah, we aren't giving up yet." Mina said. "We'll have to spend some time with other people in the corps to see what else we can learn." Thomas said. "Good idea, with other people's help and a lot of hard work, I know we can become great soldiers." Mina said. "Not just that we can but we will." Achilles said with a smile.

Achilles left shortly after and made his way to the mess hall where he spent the next several hours speaking with his friends and the other cadets not much happened until he came to Mikasa "Whatever branch of military Eren chooses I'll follow... What about you? Where are you hoping to go?" Mikasa asked. "I'm hoping to go for the scouts." Achilles replied. Achilles then turned to Eren and Eren smiled up at him "That was close. I really thought you'd make it in one of the top ten spots." Eren said. "I wasn't really expecting to do so well." Achilles said scratching the back of his head. Armin and Reiner walked up from out of nowhere "Really? Everyone else thought you would." Armin commented. "It was pretty close and if you ask me you're basically as strong as those in the top ten." Reiner said. "And like baldy said out there, training doesn't give you the full picture anyway. It doesn't really tell you who will be good in an actual fight." Reiner said. "I suppose we'll see when we find some titans." Achilles replied. Reiner smiled and nodded before walking away. Marco looked at Eren "Are you sure about not joining the military police? You were in the top ten so you can pick." Marco said. "Yes Marco, I'm sure. I had made by decision before even enlisting. I came here so I could train and learn to kill titans, nothing else." Eren replied. Jean suddenly walked up to them "Oh leave him to his death wish, Marco. We've secured our futures in the interior. And we get to enjoy a simple life." Jean said with a smile. "I can finally get out of this fucking front-line hole!!" Jean said excitedly. "Jean come on, we all know you'll enjoy a simple life wherever you choose to go." Eren said. "What was that??" Jean asked glaring at Eren. "Are you calling me stupid Eren?" Jean asked. "Calm down, Jean." Marco said. "I'm not stupid, Eren I can just see the truth that everyone else is blind to. It should've been made obvious we can't beat the titans after we lost twenty percent of our population!" Jean said clenching his fists. "Yeah, they had an upper hand on us, until now. Because now we know more about them than we ever have before. Are you really suggesting we just give up on all of the advances we've made at the cost of tens of thousands of lives and just lie down and die? Get real, Jean! What we know gives us hope and as long as we have that humanity isn't done for yet." Eren sneered before running off. "Eren wait!" Armin said before he and Mikasa ran after Eren. "Go wherever you want Eren, you haven't changed my mind!" Jean replied. Achilles didn't respond he just made his way to the door silently.


	3. Facing the Titans

Achilles stood in front of Keith looking him in the eye, once again showing no fear "Starting tomorrow, you'll be performing your real duties; facing live titans, are you ready?" Keith asked. "Yes sir!" Achilles replied. "Hmph. This could end up being the last moment of peace and quiet you'll ever get, hell tomorrow could end up being the last day of your life, are you sure you're ready?" Keith asked wanting to make sure Achilles was serious. Achilles saluted Keith "Yes, sir I am ready." Keith said.

The next day Eren, Achilles, Conny, Mina, and Thomas all stood in a circle on top of the wall "So where are you planning to go, Conny?" Eren asked. "The Scout Regiment." Conny replied with a smile. "The Scout Regiment? You ranked number eight, I thought you'd go into the Military Police." Eren said a little shocked. "Looks like that speech yesterday really gave an impact." Mina said. "Shut it, I made up my own mind!" Conny exclaimed. Thomas smiled at him "Don't feel bad about it. You're not the only one." Thomas replied. Sasha suddenly came up to the group looking like she was in a daze and her cheeks were red like apples "Hey guys... I managed to steal some meat from the officers' food stores." Sasha said as she pulled out a bag of meat. Conny took a step back startled "What?!" He said shocked. Achilles saw the meat and his stomach grumbled slightly "If they find out..." Achilles said. "They'll be mad I know, but that's why we'll have to make sure they don't." Mina replied. "Alright, I'll cook that up later." Achilles replied. "I can't believe I'm going along with this." Achilles thought to himself. "Don't worry about it, when we take back our land we'll have plenty of room for sheep, cattle, and all sorts of animals so we can all enjoy things like this." Sasha said. "HUH?!" Eren replied startled. "So we're celebrating the retaking of Wall Maria? Okay, I'll eat to that." Thomas said. "Me too! Save me a piece for later, okay?" Mina said. "Okay, now then back to work." Achilles said. "Hey SilverBlade?" Eren said. "Yeah what is it?" Achilles replied. "I well everyone else said where they wanted to be assigned, but what about you? Where are you hoping they put you?" Eren asked. Achilles smiled to himself. "I'm hoping to go into the Scout Regiment." Achilles replied. "Well with the skill you demonstrated I'd say you're a shoe in for the scouts. We're gonna do great I just know it!" Eren said excitedly. "Besides you were there in Shiganshina too? On that day when the Colossal Titan showed up right?" Eren asked. Achilles nodded. "Yeah, that was the day I lost my parents." Achilles said as a small tear rolled down his cheek. "We've both got unfinished business with the titans." Eren said. "Hey, you guys get back to work before the officers notice!" Thomas shouted. "Right we'll be right there." Eren replied.

It's been five years since the day the titans took Shinganshina Achilles, Eren, Conny, Sasha, Mina, and Thomas all were on top of the wall going tending to the cannons while Eren overlooked the city. Suddenly a flash of yellow lightning appeared outside the wall and the monstrous, unholy sight of the colossal titan appeared standing outside of the wall. Just like the first time it appeared the titan kicked a hole in the wall as if it were merely kicking a rock out of its path it then let out a burst of something that may have been steam from its mouth which forced everyone to fly off the wall, everyone activated their ODM gear seconds later and latched on to the wall, and they watched in horror as titans began marching in through the newly created hole in the wall "The wall, it's been destroyed." Eren said. "Not again! The titans are coming in again..." Conny said in horror. Achilles saw the first titan walk in and he wasn't scared, when he saw that abomination slowly walk into the city he felt a white hot rage that burned like the fires of hell appear inside of him, Achilles pulled out two of his blades and jumped off the wall, then he used his grappling hooks to latch on to the back of the titan's neck, he flew down with incredible force and sliced the titan's vitals easily, killing it in mere moments. Achilles propelled himself up onto the wall again "Nice job! Keep it up like you did in training and the titans should be no match for you!" Eren said from above Achilles. The colossal titan suddenly reared its foot back again and kicked the wall once again, causing the hole to become much wider the impact caused Achilles and Eren both to fall, Achilles latched back on to the wall before anything bad happened and he grabbed Eren's hand moments later "You okay?" Achilles asked. More titans began to enter the newly widened hole "They're coming in one after the other, we've got to kill them all!" Eren shouted. Achilles and Eren launched themselves forward at the next titan and they cleaved its arms off easily, this made it significantly harder for the titan to grab any of them. Achilles swung in front of its face, hoping it would lunge for him and it did just that, Achilles managed to move out of the way before it could get him so the monster just fell flat on the ground and struggled to get up "Eren, Kill it now!" Achilles shouted. Eren swung in from behind the titan and sliced its vital region, like it was nothing. Achilles and Eren propelled themselves to the tops of a building and were soon joined by Conny and Sasha "Are you two okay?!" Conny exclaimed. "Yeah we're fine." Eren replied. "Good, I'm gonna help you two fight." Conny replied. "Me too! We can win if we all fight together!" Sasha said. "We'll keep them distracted! Then, SilverBlade, when you get the chance strike the nape of their necks!" Eren ordered. Achilles nodded "We pulled through things like this in the past. We can do this... Humanity can defeat the titans!!" Eren shouted. The four of them spent hours fighting the titans, killing many shortly after they even got in through the wall, the four of them soon stopped and got on to a rough to catch their breath "Eren, this is too much! If more titans come through we're done for!" Conny shouted. Sasha turned back to see Achilles gripping his right shoulder tightly "Are you okay?!" She asked. "Yes, I'm fine, don't worry about me." Achilles replied. "Come on we should retreat!" Sasha exclaimed. "No, there is still one more..." Eren said. Eren shot both grappling hooks from his ODM gear and flew up toward the wall "Eren! What are you doing?!" Conny exclaimed. "The target is at the front of the wall... The Colossal Titan!!" Eren shouted back. "You can't be serious." Conny said shocked. "It's the one of the only two that can destroy the wall! We have to kill it!!" Eren shouted. "We need to help him, he can't take on that abomination alone!" Achilles shouted. "Wait, look, more titans are getting in!" Sasha said pointing at the hole the Colossal titan had made. Achilles drew both of his blades "What?! NO!" Sasha said. "Fuck! We've got to kill that thing!!" Conny shouted. "Damn it you're right." Sasha said. The three of them shot the hooks from their ODM gear out and propelled themselves toward the newly arrived titan "Conny, Sasha take out its legs!" Achilles shouted. "Right." Conny and Sasha said in unison. Mina and Thomas suddenly appeared "Sorry, I know I'm late to the fight but I want to help out too!" Mina said. "Yeah we're joining the fight with you!" Thomas added. "Good, Each of you try to attack the neck, I'll keep this one distracted." Achilles said. Another titan soon entered, true to his word Achilles distracted the titan by slicing it across the face to get its attention, Seconds later both Conny and Sasha cut across the titans vitals, causing it to stumble before Thomas finished it off but the second titan grabbed both Thomas and Mina, they both screamed in horror as the titan opened its mouth. Achilles showed up in the nick of time and shot a flash grenade into the air, the titan let go of both Mina and Thomas causing them to fall before Sasha and Conny caught them. While the titan was distracted Achilles flew behind it and sliced its vitals, killing it quickly and causing the titan's blood to spray everywhere, covering the ground and Achilles. Luckily titan blood evaporates quickly "Get on to a high roof!" Achilles shouted. They all did as he said but when Achilles saw Eren was still locked in battle with the colossal titan Achilles' eyes widened "There's another titan coming in!" Mina shouted. The titan that was coming in was a large probably sixteen meter tall titan showed up, the titan had a face that looked like a skull, pitch black eyes, short hair, and it looked to be slow but strong. Achilles showed no fear, he was the first one to activate his ODM gear and fly toward the titan, first slicing off its right hand, when the titan tried to grab him with its left Achilles used his gear to move out of the way of the titan's hand and he ran up its arm, Achilles then shot his grappling hooks onto the wall and flew up several meters into the air then he came back down and sliced the titan's vitals with ease and with the extra force he took the titan's entire head off. Achilles latched high up onto the wall again and looked down at the hole ready to kill the next titan that showed up "The way you move is incredible! You know exactly what to do against a real titan!" Conny shouted. Achilles didn't respond he just launched himself toward the top of the wall "OH no! Eren! He's facing the Colossal Titan on his own!" Conny shouted. Achilles got there just in time to see Eren get blown back by a huge cloud of steam from the back of the colossal titan's neck but when Eren tried to cut the titan's vitals it disappeared "Eren, what happened??" Achilles shouted. "Did you kill it?" Conny asked. "No, just like five years ago it was here one moment, then vanished." Eren replied as he got back on top of the wall. "I'm sorry, I let it get away." Eren said hanging his head in shame. Achilles placed a hand on Eren's shoulder and smiled at him "It's not your fault." Achilles said with a smile. "Yeah there's no need for you to apologize." Thomas added. "What are you doing?!" An officer who came up from the base of the wall demanded. "The mission from when the Colossal Titan appeared is already underway! Get back to base NOW!" The officer ordered. The four of them saluted him "Yes sir!" They said in unison.

"I can't believe it, the titans broke through the wall." Achilles thought to himself as he, Thomas, Conny, and Eren arrived at the base. "I-I don't understand... The Colossal Titan hadn't appeared for five years, why did it come back now?" Conny asked. "We don't have time to worry about it, there's only one thing we can do now; kill every last one of them." Achilles replied. Conny smiled "Yeah right! We were cadets a few days ago, we don't stand a chance." Conny replied looking sad. Achilles looked down at Conny and furrowed his brow "All we can do now is our best." Achilles replied. Achilles made his way over to a Garrison Soldier who had his hair slicked back, and had a stubble covering his lips and chin "Are you ready to move out?" The Garrison Soldier asked. "Ready as I'll ever be." Achilles replied. "Then line up at the assembly point." The Garrison Soldier ordered.

Everyone lined up next to each other and were greeted by Kitz Weilman; a visually tense man, with sunken eyes, a thick brown mustache that covered his upper lip. He wore his brown hair slicked back, with it framing his face and forming a thick beard. "Okay, troops! Get into your squads and go seek-and-destroy those titans Kitz ordered. "The Garrison Regiment's intercept squad will be the vanguard, the backup squad from the Cadet Corps will take center and the Garrison's elite squad will bring up the rear!" Kitz explained. "We defend Wall Rose to the end! Give it your all, people! Dismissed!" Kitz shouted. Everyone saluted in unison Mikasa looked at Eren "Eren... If things get too crazy out there, stick by me, don't-" She said. "Ackermann! Join the rearguard elite squad." Ian, Kitz's second in command ordered cutting Mikasa off. "But sir! I'm not good enough for that, I'll just be a burden..." Mikasa said trying to come up with an excuse quickly. "Mikasa! Humanity is on the brink of being wiped out! Forget about me. Just make it happen!" Eren snapped. Mikasa sighed "... Sorry, you're right! Just promise me one thing... Don't die out there." Mikasa replied. Ian walked off and Mikasa followed soon after "Don't die? There's no way in hell I'm going to die out there. There's still too much I need to see in the outside world." Eren thought to himself.

Achilles and everyone else loaded up their blades and gas and got ready to move out "Hey! What'd you say?!" Achilles heard Conny shout. Achilles looked up to see Conny walking over to a tall, slender young woman with parted, disheveled-looking black hair styled into a ponytail. Her hair was held back with a red tie. She had intimidating gray eyes, she was also about a head taller than Christa. "I said it sucks being stuck with an idiot." The girl replied shooting Conny a glare. "What?!" Conny shouted. Christa ran up to them suddenly "Stop it! This is no time for bickering!" Christa shouted. "Agh! I've had enough of this!" Christa said obviously angry. "Ymir, and Conny you two are always fi-" She said. "Okay, okay, we get it!" The other girl who Achilles figured out was named 'Ymir' said. Ymir placed her hands o Christa's shoulders "Just for you, we'll make nice with each other... Okay?" Ymir said. "There really is no point in arguing at a time like this, I suppose..." Conny said. "Anyway, let's try to work together, okay?" Christa said. "I do wish you guys would stop getting in Christa's and my way all the time." Ymir said. "Ugh... You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you? Enough talk, let's go already!" Conny exclaimed. The three of them jumped off of the rood they were standing on and activated their ODM gear and began swinging from one roof to the next "Our job is to support the middle guard... let's put what we leaned to good use!" Conny exclaimed. "Ymir went ahead to scout! I need to join up with her!" Christa shouted. "We'll join up with her when we can! Which way did she go?" Achilles asked. "That way!" Christa said as she swung herself into the air and pointed forward. A red flare suddenly was shot up into the air "That must be her!" Christa shouted looking in that direction. "Then that's were we'll go!" Achilles shouted. A titan's hand suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and grabbed Conny screamed as the titan looked down at him with a demonic grin "Conny!!!" Achilles shouted. Achilles shot one of the hooks from his ODM gear at the titan and flew forward, and in one fluid motion Achilles sliced the titan's arm off at the elbow, causing it to drop Conny. As Conny fell Achilles swung in and grabbed him and lifted him up onto a roof "You okay?" Achilles asked. "Yeah I'm fine." Conny replied. "Good, you two head to Ymir, I'll finish this monster off." Achilles ordered. "Not happening." Conny replied. "Achilles groaned but didn't have a lot of time to argue with Conny as the titan made its way toward them "Fine, I'll distract it; you finish it!" Achilles ordered. Achilles launched one of the hooks from his gear and flew passed the titan causing it to move and start going after Achilles, completely forgetting that Conny was even there. Conny, taking his opportunity, he cut the titan's nape with his blades killing it instantly "Good, now let's get yo Ymir before a titan does!" Achilles shouted.

Achilles, Christa, and Conny all made their way to Ymir and being lucky enough to encounter very few large titans. They found Ymir on the top of a building that was just out of some titans "Ymir! You're alright!" Christa said excitedly. "Of course I am." Ymir replied. "Good, Now come with us Ymir, the titans are pouring in through that hole in the wall." Achilles said. Ymir drew her swords "Right." She replied with a smirk. The four of them propelled themselves all the way back to the wall only to see five titans make their way into the Trost District "The titans... There's so many." Christa said terrified. "Damn, now I've got no choice. I'll kill every last one of them." Ymir said. "I've gotta do my best... I wanna show that I can be useful to everyone, too!" Christa said. The first titan they found was an eight meter titan Achilles delivered the first blow to the left arm, cutting it off, followed by Conny taking the right leg, Ymir finished the titan with a cut to its vitals. The next one was a fifteen meter titan everyone flew around it so quickly it didn't seem to have time to figure out what was even happening, Achilles sliced the titans right arm off, followed moments later by the left, Achilles finished the titan off easily with a strike to the vitals in the back of its neck. "Look at Achilles go!" Conny shouted. "Yeah, you'll be one hundred times stronger than that moron over there." Ymir said referring to Conny. "Who the hell are you talking about?!" Conny demanded.

They all saw a green smoke signal suddenly go off in the distance "That smoke signal, someone's in trouble!" Conny shouted. "We need to help them." Achilles said before firing one of his grappling hooks in the direction of the smoke signal. Followed by Conny "Let them go, it's not our job." Ymir said. "I'm going, there's never a reason to ignore a call for help." Christa said before she followed Achilles and Conny. Ymir let out an annoyed sigh and followed after Christa. Once they got there the four of them were greeted with the sight of a cadet in the clutches of a titan "HELP!!!" The cadet screamed. Achilles didn't hesitate, he fired his hooks at the titan's vitals and severed them in one motion and as the cadet fell Achilles caught them and lowered them gently to the ground. Once they were on the ground the Cadet hugged Achilles "OH thank you, thank you, thank you!!" The cadet cried. "No problem, now get to some higher ground before you get eaten. " Achilles replied. Everyone else landed around them seconds later.

Another red smoke signal was shot up into the air seconds later, this one came from the direction that the thirty-fourth cadet corps was sent, Eren's group. Achilles' eyes widened before he activated his ODM gear again and he along with Conny, Ymir, and Christa all made their way to the thirty-fourth cadet corps' location which was overrun with titans two of the ten to fifteen meter range and three five meter titans "Conny, with me, we're going after the big ones. Ymir, Christa, kill the smaller titans then join up with Conny and I." Achilles ordered. "Right." The three of them said. Achilles and Conny propelled themselves up toward the larger titans and Achilles fired a flash bang into the air causing the large titans to be blinded momentarily, Conny and Achilles both flew up and they each killed one of the two larger titans with relative ease "Okay, now let's rejoin Ymir and Christa!" Achilles ordered. Conny nodded and the two swung down to the ground only to see both Ymir and Christa standing among three dead five meter titans that had already begun to evaporate "That's all the titans around here. Eren, let's go, we're heading that way." Armin said. "See you guys later! Looks like I killed the most titans this time." Eren said smiling. Eren propelled away with Armin and the rest of the thirty-fourth cadet corps "Ah, Eren! Just be careful!" Christa called. "We're starting to run low on gas... Let's back to the headquarters ad resupply." Conny suggested. "Good idea." Achilles replied.

The group began to move toward the Trost District headquarters but stopped soon when they saw Jean and Daz facing a group of titans, alone Jean waved up at Achilles and his group "Come on guys, We can't resupply with these titans here! Help me kill them!" Jean ordered. Daz cowered on top of a roof while several small titans jumped and tried to grab them "I-I don't want to die!" Daz screamed. "You won't, not yet!" Jean shouted. "You three go ahead of me, I'll help Jean!" Achilles said. "Are you nuts?!" Conny asked. "No, now you heard me! GO!" Achilles shouted as he stopped and swung over toward Jean and Daz, he killed one of the titans easily and the other Ymir finished off from out of nowhere, when Achilles propelled himself up to the roof where Daz and Jean were he saw Conny, Christa, and Ymir waiting for him, along with Daz and Jean "I thought I told you guys to go ahead of me." Achilles yelled. "We aren't letting you die just yet." Conny said.

Suddenly they heard a scream coming from the direction Eren and the others went "Oh no!" Achilles said. "That sounded like Armin!" Conny shouted. Achilles and the rest of the group made it to Armin with breakneck speed still trying to conserve as much of their ODM gear's gas as possible. When they reached Armin he was just standing there in stunned silence "Armin, are you alright?" Christa asked. "Aren't you in a squad with Eren and the others? Where are they?" Conny said looking around frantically. Armin stayed silent as tears welled up in his eyes "Armin? You... don't mean?" Christa said. Achilles' widened "Isn't it damn obvious? They're dead! All of them! Except this wimp." Ymir said. Shut up! Let Armin speak!" Conny demanded. "We can't talk any more, we're out in the open like this. If we stay here the titans will eat us too!" Ymir shouted. "Enough arguing! We need to take cover somewhere! Armin can you walk?" Christa asked. Bertholdt, Annie, and Reiner suddenly showed up "We can't rest now! Civilians are still at risk, if titans get passed the rear guard, we're in trouble." Reiner said. "Yes, that's true but..." Christa said. "Is something wrong?" Bertholdt asked. "There's no sign of Eren or the others." Achilles replied. "We didn't see them either." Annie replied. "Look, we don't have time for this! Let's just gather all of the surviving troops and do whatever we still can against the titans!" Reiner ordered. "You go ahead we'll catch up with you soon." Christa said. "No, I won't leave you all here." Achilles replied. "Fine, we all go together then." Conny said.

The group all activated their ODM gear and started to fly off but Armin was still far too stunned to do anything so Ymir and Achilles decided to carry him, they came to the place where all of the remaining soldiers were congregating and it didn't look good, there was only about a quarter of the soldiers left and they all looked like they were just ready to quit. Achilles and Ymir set Armin down and let him just sit on one of the roofs while they ran over to check on everyone, Achilles soon noticed Conny standing and yelling at Jean who was sitting down "The order to retreat finally comes when we have nowhere near enough gas left to clear the walls..." Jean said cupping his face in his hands. "Then it's sink or swim! We've got no choice but to kill the titans at the headquarters!!" Conny shouted pointing at the Trost District HQ that was covered in titans. "We can resupply when we get there." Conny said. "But we're done for if we use what little gas we have left to run from one place to the other!" Conny added. Jean looked up at Conny angrily "Among us cadets, who the hell can lead such a desperate mission?" Jean asked. Mikasa suddenly landed on the same roof as Armin and she ran over to him, Achilles went over as well wanting to make sure Armin was alright. Mikasa kneeled down in front of Armin "Armin, are you okay?" She asked. Armin hung his head but stayed silent as Achilles walked up next to Mikasa. "Where's Eren?" Mikasa asked looking around. A tear rolled down Armin's cheek and he looked up at Mikasa with tears flowing in a constant stream from his blue eyes Mikasa and Achilles both looked at Armin fearfully "The five members of the thirty-fourth Cadet Squad died heroically on the field of battle!" Armin cried. Everyone moved over to Armin's location curiously. Armin hung his head and cried as everyone else looked shocked "Eren died in my place..." Armin replied. Achilles felt tears welling up in his amber eyes as he clenched his left fist enough to draw blood from his palm "Armin." Mikasa said as she kneeled down and took his hand. "This isn't the time to get emotional." Mikasa said. She stood up and helped Armin to his feet.

Achilles placed his right hand on Armin's shoulder as tears slipped out of his eyes "Armin... The best thing we can do now, is make sure their sacrifice wasn't in vain." Achilles said sniffling slightly. Mikasa walked to the edge of the roof passed everyone else, Achilles wiped his tears and followed her lead "I'm strong, very strong!" Mikasa said raising one of her blades. "So even if I must do it alone, I'm gonna rout those titans." Mikasa said without emotion. She pointed her blade "You're all weak and cowardly. You can suck your thumbs like babies and watch the way I do things." Mikasa said before jumping off the roof and activating her gear "I've lost too many people I care about today, I won't lose her too." Achilles thought to himself as he readied his blades. "Hey! When were we taught to fight alone?!" Jean shouted. Achilles activated his gear and began to propel himself forward, Armin and Conny following soon after. Moments later everyone followed their comrades into a battle they knew they'd most likely lose. Achilles propelled himself up onto the top of headquarters when a titan went for him he jumped up and hooked on to the back of its neck then let gravity give him the momentum he'd need to slice through the titan's vitals killing it quickly. The other titans were disposed of quickly sadly at the cost of several more soldiers' lives "Everyone get into the headquarters now!" Jean shouted. And more titans were already on their way over to the headquarters looking for a meal.

Mikasa however saw that civilians were still in danger and in stead of going in to the base to resupply she activated her ODM gear again and flew in the direction of a titan that was trying to eat a young woman, Achilles saw this and went after her without even thinking. Conny and Armin soon followed after Achilles, Mikasa's gas soon ran out and she fell to the ground "OH NO!" Armin shouted. "Where is she?!" Conny replied. "How the hell should I know just find her!!" Achilles replied. Achilles quickly noticed a person who was sitting on their knees in an alley not moving "There!" Achilles shouted pointing at Mikasa. Achilles propelled himself down and picked her up off the ground and set her down on a roof to a house "Are you alright?!" Armin asked as he and Conny landed. "Yeah I'm fine." Mikasa said. A fifteen meter tall titan soon appeared, this one was skinny, had short hair, and black eyes and another appeared after that the second one was muscular, had long brown hair, green eyes, its back teeth (molars etc.) were raised slightly above the front ones, it had pointed ears "And another one." Armin said. "No that one's different." Mikasa said. Achilles, Armin, and Conny all soon noticed the steaming corpse of a freshly dead titan on the ground "How did that..." Armin said confused. The titan with the short hair let out a high-pitched roar and charged for the new titan, the new titan raised its fists in a defensive stance and everyone's eyes widened. The long haired titan punched the short haired one and sent its head flying almost three miles away into a clock tower, when the short haired titan's body fell and began to get back up the long haired one stomped exactly down on the other titan's weak spot "I-it knew, where the weak spot was?" Armin said dumbfounded. The titan's hand which was reduced to bone because of the impact of the strike grew back all of its skin and muscle in seconds. "We've gotta get back to the base before more titans show up." Conny said grabbing Mikasa's arm. "Wait no, I've got an idea." Armin said. "What?" Achilles asked. "What if we get that titan the one that's killing the others and steer him toward the headquarters, he'd keep the other titans distracted while everyone resupplies." Armin said. "That could work." Achilles said. "Yeah but how do you steer a God damn titan?!" Conny asked. "Well not steer him but we lure him, take out all the titans close to him so he goes to the headquarters." Armin explained. "Well it's worth a try." Mikasa said. "But you're out of gas!" Conny said. "I thought about that so..." Armin said as he removed the tanks from his ODM gear and switched them with Mikasa's "What are you doing?" Mikasa asked. "I've shot just enough gas to pull something like this off. And it'd be better if you got out of this alive than me." Armin said. Achilles looked at Armin "Armin listen to me, no one is expendable like that, we're all going to make it out of this." Achilles said. "How will I get around?" Armin asked. "We'll carry you." Mikasa said. "We'd better get to work though." Achilles said. "You're right let's go!" Conny shouted. Achilles picked Armin up with Mikasa's help and they began rocketing around taking out as many large titans as possible until all that was left were the ones on at the base, two of which were leaning their heads in to a room where multiple people were.

The titan charged at them and delivered a punch to the face of one of those titans which sent them both flying, it then let out an earsplitting roar "What the hell?!" Jean shouted. Achilles, Mikasa and Conny who was carrying Armin burst through the windows in the headquarters "Mikasa, Achilles we thought you all were dead." Jean said surprised. Conny chuckled "Man I was running on fumes there, good but we made it." Conny said. "You're a bonified genius, from now on we go with any plan you think of!" Conny said slapping Armin on the back "Ow." Armin moaned. "Check it out! We found an abnormal who has something against its own kind, best part is he doesn't give a shit about us!!" Conny said excitedly. "Thanks to him we may just make it out of here!" Conny said. "Well then let's resupply and get the hell out of here." Achilles said.

Achilles, Mikasa, Armin, Conny and everyone else all began to fill their tanks with the gas they had at the base and restock all of their blades, and in record time they all were ready to head out, so they climbed up to the roof of the headquarters but when they got there they saw something horrible; the long haired titan that had guaranteed their escape was pinned against a house and being eaten by other titans. "What's going on? Can he not regenerate like the others?" Armin asked. "We've gotta help him, he's way too valuable to let die." Achilles said. "Are you crazy?! He's a titan not some new friend." Jean replied. "Well if we get him we can get out of here and evacuate the citizens easily." Achilles replied. While Jean and Achilles argued Armin looked and noticed a new titan walking along to them "Oh no, that's the one that ate Thomas." Armin said. The long haired titan let out another roar and charged forward loosing both of its arms as it pushed through the crowd of titans that were eating it. It then bit onto the neck of the titan that ate Thomas severing its vitals right away, right after that the long haired titan proceeded to use that titan's corpse as a weapon which it used to knock down another fifteen meter titan and crush its vitals with its foot, followed by straight up stomping on two five meter titans like insects "So? What was that about him needing help?" Jean asked. The long haired titan then dropped the corpse of the titan that killed Thomas and roared one last time, then it fell to the ground dead. However when it did Mikasa stared at it as she saw Eren climb out of the corpse of the titan, Mikasa didn't hesitate for one second she swung herself down there using her ODM gear and grabbed on to Eren, then she hugged him and placed her ear to his chest and to her delight she heard his heart beat. Mikasa began to sob loudly in utter joy to see her beloved brother was alive and she kept sobbing and holding on to Eren for dear life even after the other troops had raised Eren and Mikasa back onto the headquarters' roof "But, I saw him die. His arm and his leg, they were bitten off." Armin said as he gripped Eren's newly reformed hand. "How is this possible?" Armin asked in disbelief. "So... Eren did all this?" Jean asked looking out at the battle field that was littered with titan corpses and the blood of dead soldiers.


	4. Retaking Trost

Achilles and the remaining soldiers from the Trost district got Eren back to the barracks where they were given their orders after the titans breached the walls. Marco, Achilles, Sasha, Jean, and Daz all stood in a circle, while Jean conversed with Christa, Ymir, Conny, and Annie. "It's over! We can't keep fighting and fighting until we're all eaten! We need to leave NOW!" Daz exclaimed. "Quit it, Daz! Pull yourself together! We're all scared, it's not just you!" Marco shouted. Marco looked at Sasha "Look at Sasha she's still holding her head even after a titan ambushed her!" Marco exclaimed. Sasha yelped and thinking quickly she clutched her stomach "Ahhh! My stomach... Hurts so bad! I... I'm not sure I can fight anymore." Sasha groaned in fake pain. Marco and Achilles stared at her in surprise, Daz suddenly grabbed his head "I-I Can't go on!" Daz shouted in anguish. "Dammit! Enough already!" Marco shouted. "Achilles, can you please talk some sense into these two?" Marco asked. Achilles looked at Sasha who was glancing up at them hoping she was fooling them with her fake stomach ache "Do you want some indigestion tablets?" Achilles asked sarcastically. "Oh no, thanks I'm good." Sasha said realizing she wasn't fooling anyone. Achilles turned to Daz "Now listen need to control our fear, and keep fighting." Achilles replied. "That's easy for you to say! How the hell do you to stay so calm the whole time?!" Daz demanded. "Seriously, we are running out of time here!" Marco exclaimed. Suddenly a cannon shot was heard causing all of them to jump "Was that gunfire?" Jean asked.

Everyone looked at the door which lead to the base's courtyard that Eren, Mikasa and Armin had been taken through by Kitz not long ago "What the hell's going on in there?!" Achilles shouted fearing for the lives of his friends. "Well we can find out." Annie said tapping her gear with a smirk. Achilles smirked as well when he realized what she was talking about Annie, Achilles, Reiner, and Jean all used their ODM gear to get to the roof of the base silently and they stood up there watching what was happening. They saw thirty or maybe forty Garrison soldiers each with their weapons drawn. Staring at a massive cloud of steam "It's done?" Kitz asked. Seconds later as the steam dissipated they saw; something horrific, there was what looked like the torso of a titan without any skin, just muscle and bone but it wasn't alive, it had one green eye, and an outstretched arm which again was only covered by muscle and was facing in the direction of the cannon that had just fired. Achilles and Jean gasped in shock while Reiner and Annie stood there like nothing happened.

The Garrison soldiers all drew their swords more steam began to appear as the body began to evaporate, before the steam appeared Eren, Mikasa, and Armin could be seen kneeling and talking about something but it was impossible to tell what. Moments later a person could be seen running out of the cloud of steam Kitz looked at the silhouette in horror and raised his hand "Stop!" He demanded. Armin stood in front of him and raised his hands in the air in a surrender "Eren is not our enemy!" Armin shouted. "We intend to tell you everything we know." He said. Kitz paused "You say he's not the enemy... Prove it!" Kitz demanded. "There is no need for proof! How we perceive him is not the problem here! Numerous people must've seen him fighting the titans! And they must've also seen the titans swarm him! They prey on him the same as they do to us! This is an unequivocal fact!" Armin shouted. Many of the Garrison soldiers looked at each other, Kitz thought for a moment "Prepare to attack! Don't listen to this trickery!" Kitz shouted. The Garrison soldiers readied their weapons, Armin gasped as he looked back at Eren and Mikasa.

Armin saluted Kitz "I have devoted my life to the protection and restoration of humanity! I will be more satisfied to see my life end in defense of my convictions!!" Armin shouted. "If we combine Eren's power with our remaining soldiers, it may be enough to take back the Trost District! At the very least, we could go out in a blaze of glory for humanity! I will risk everything for his tactical value!" Armin screamed. Achilles gripped his swords but Annie held an arm out in front of him "Don't." She said. Achilles released his swords and watched as some bald man with a Garrison soldier uniform and a red and gold sash walked up behind Kitz and as Kitz was just about to give the signal to fire the cannon the bald man grabbed his arm "Halt, Kitz. Like always you're a delicate fawn despite your size." The man said. "Commander Pyxis...!" Kitz said surprised. "Can't you see this boy's heartfelt salute? I think we should listen to what they have to say." Pyxis said.

"Let's go back... We need to prepare for our next mission." Reiner said placing a hand on Achilles' shoulder. Reiner walked off, Annie and Jean followed soon after, Achilles glanced back for a second before he too walked away. They arrived back where the rest of the soldiers were congregating, Achilles saw Daz standing there looking terrified "Oh God... Are... Are we going to have to go back among those monsters? Please tell me this is a bad dream..." Daz said. Achilles sighed, "I'll take those titans on myself if I have to." Achilles replied. "What? Are you serious?" Daz asked. "W- well, I suppose, we don't need to do everything together, right? or at least you don't have to stick with me ALL of the time." Daz replied. "Just try not to get killed." Achilles replied. "Oh man, what am I gonna do? I-I just want to go home and see my folks!" Daz said with a slight whimper.

Kitz pinched the bridge of his nose "Pyxis... what is he thinking?" Kitz mumbled. He placed his hands at his sides "But still he's the commander, and we must follow orders." Kitz thought to himself. "Hey! Are you soldiers ready for action?" Kitz asked. Everyone saluted Kitz, right away "Yes sir!" The soldiers shouted. "Then line up! The commander is about to explain the strategy!" Kitz shouted. All of the soldiers stood at the base of the wall, murmuring to each other until Pyxis showed himself standing on top of the wall facing the soldiers "ATTENTION!" Pyxis shouted. All of the murmuring stopped instantly and everyone looked up at Pyxis standing on top of the wall. "I will now explain how he plan to retake the Trost District!" Pyxis shouted. "First I would like to introduce, Cadet Eren Jaeger!" Pyxis exclaimed. Eren stepped forward into view. "He is the success story of a titan transformation experiment done in complete secret." Pyxis said. Eren saluted the crowd, and everyone looked at each other with expressions of unimaginable shock and fear. "After he turns into a titan, he will carry the large boulder that is near the front gate, and he shall use that to seal the hole in the gate! Your duty is to protect him while he does that!" Pyxis exclaimed. "Lies! All this talk about a human weapon is nothing but lies!" Daz shouted. "If you expect me to die here... I quit!" Shouted a garrison soldier. Many followed after him.

Kitz drew his blade "You traitors will pay for your insolence!" Kitz shouted. "Listen! Those who choose to leave will not not face disciplinary action!" Pyxis shouted. Kitz froze and looked up at him in disbelief "Those who succumb to their fear of titans have no business being here!" Pyxis said. "And those who want their parents, siblings, and loved ones... to feel the wrath of the titans firsthand should leave as well." Pyxis exclaimed. All of the soldiers attempting to leave stopped dead in their tracks "No, not my family." One of them said clenching his fists. All of those soldiers reluctantly turned and walked back to the crowd. "If Wall Rose becomes compromised, humankind will be wiped out forever." Pyxis shouted. Achilles was scared now, knowing he would likely die but he tried to hide it, but Sasha saw through his ruse and placed a hand on his shoulder "I'm afraid too, but... We can't just run away..." She said. Achilles smiled "Who's running?" Achilles replied. "We will die at one of the inner walls! Do it... Die here!" Pyxis shouted. The gates to the Trost District were then opened.

"It's time to recapture Trost!" Pyxis shouted. "We need to keep the titans away from Eren! Lure them to the wall then kill them!" Armin ordered. Achilles nodded at Armin and propelled himself up into the air, the cannons on the walls soon started to fire "If we can draw the titans over to the wall, we can blast them with the wall-mounted weapons." Pyxis said. Achilles flew up and got on top of a very tall roof "I will not die here." Achilles said before propelling himself down, he felt if he had to attract titans this would be a good way to do it, and he was right three small titans two five meters tall and one four meters tall, began to chase him, thinking on his feet he switched on his ODM gear and latched on to the nearest wall so he was out of reach of those titans. Armin and Annie came in shortly after and killed the two five meter titans and Achilles swung around and killed the last one. The battle continued for what felt like hours. And Achilles stayed mostly to the edge of the wall luring titans out and killing them, that was until he saw a distress signal go off in the distance.

Unable to fight his instincts Achilles activated his ODM gear again but chose to mostly just leap from one roof to the other as he made his way to where the distress signal was sent up. When he got there he was horrified to see Daz and Sasha being attacked by a large abnormal, the titan grabbed ahold of Daz and looked at him with its ravenous eyes. Sasha screamed "Save me!!!" Daz screamed as tears poured from his eyes like rivers while he looked into the titan's gaping maw in terror. Achilles didn't even think about what to do, he just swung forward at the titan and sliced its hand off, Daz fell and screamed again but Achilles caught him and fired a flash bang into the air to blind the titan. "You s-saved me..." Daz said stunned. Achilles left Daz on a roof not far from where they were fighting the titan "Stay here for now." Achilles ordered. Daz nodded, Achilles quickly got back up to Sasha just as the titan regained its sight "You ready?" Achilles asked. "Ready as I'll ever be." Sasha replied. The two swung around the titan very quickly to the titan it was like trying to grab to tiny mosquitos. Sasha cut into the titan's neck causing it to stumble for a second before Achilles came in from the left and finished it off. Achilles and Sasha made their way back to Daz and Daz fell to his knees and hugged Achilles' legs "Thank you!!!" Daz shouted with tears still falling from his eyes. Sasha patted him on the back "Sorry Daz, but we've gotta get back to work!" Sasha said. Daz whimpered. Achilles helped him to his feet and patted him on the back "You can do this." Achilles said. "Hell, I'll go with you guys." Achilles said. That helped Daz to at least feel a little better "Alright then we'd best get moving." Sasha said.

Achilles, Sasha and Daz all began swinging toward the area where they were supposed to go (The area in the Trost District where the boulder is) but they were soon stopped when a large abnormal smashed through a building sending rubble flying everywhere and causing Achilles to fly through the widow of the house behind him, The broken glass left a cut right under his eye "Ah damn!" Achilles said through gritted teeth. But when Achilles heard Sasha and Daz scream he got to his feet immediately and ran out of the window, when he got out there he saw Sasha and Daz both in the titan's fists, trying to use their blades to cut through its fingers to escape, it wasn't working. Achilles didn't hesitate for one second he propelled himself upwards toward the titan's neck and sliced right into its vital region, causing blood to spray out of the wound like an erupting volcano. It released Daz and Sasha who were quick to use their ODM gear to get onto a house "You're my hero, Achilles." Sasha said. The three of them soon saw a distress signal flare go off not far from them "That can't be good." Achilles said. "Let's go!" Sasha exclaimed. "Do we have to?" Daz whimpered. "Yes." both Achilles and Sasha said. Daz groaned and the three of them set off toward the smoke signal.

When they got to the origin of the signal they saw Jean kneeling down doing what looked like repairs on his ODM gear with Conny looking around terrified. A titan advanced toward them and Conny screamed and Jean looked at it terrified "Let's go!" Achilles shouted. Achilles was the first to activate his ODM gear and attack the titan, the hook latched on to the titan's and forehead and Achilles flew right at it "What the fuck is he doing?!" Sasha said. Achilles detached the blades of his swords from the handles and threw them both at the titan, one went into each of its eyes causing it to cover its eyes as blood poured form them, Achilles got behind the titan and soon swung under it, severing its right leg at the knee and causing it to fall. Sasha finally snapped back to reality after what she had just witnessed and flew over toward the titan, she was the one to finish it off "Thanks." Achilles said. "No problem." Sasha replied. Achilles, Sasha and Daz soon joined Conny and Jean. Just as Jean finished his repairs "Okay that should get my gear to work, for now at least." Jean said. "Good, Let's get going." Achilles replied. Suddenly they saw a flash of green and yellow lightning "That has to be Eren." Sasha said. But only a minute later a flare signifying that something had gone wrong was shot into the air "Oh no, we need to get over there." Achilles said. "Why?" Daz asked. "Eren and the others could be in danger!" Achilles shouted. Without a second thought Achilles activated his ODM gear and started moving toward the area where the flare was shot.

When they arrived there they saw Eren in his titan form standing near the giant bolder that he was supposed to carry on his back to seal the hole in the wall. But instead of picking it up Eren was stomping around roaring uncontrollably, Achilles made his way over to Mikasa who was standing the roof of a house. Followed moments later by Armin. The titans were mainly focused on Eren so they were in relatively little danger "What the hell is going on?" Achilles asked as the two stared down at Eren rampaging around. The titan isn't behaving the way Eren wants. The plan has failed... At this rate we'll all be killed." Mikasa explained. Titans swarmed Eren but he swatted them away like flies but any time a soldier got near him he'd attempt to grab them too. A short girl with short white hair and glasses (Rico) looked at this in horror "Eren... Why is he attacking us too?" She asked shocked.

Once all of the titans around him were dead Eren turned his attention to Mikasa, Armin, and Achilles. Eren swung his fist at them and smashed in the roof of the house they were standing on. But luckily Achilles, Mikasa and Armin managed to get out of the way in time. Using her ODM gear Mikasa jumped up and latched on to Eren's forehead and she hung in front of his face and stared him in the eye "Eren, don't you recognize me?!" Mikasa demanded. Eren balled his hand up into a fist "Move!" A garrison soldier named Ian shouted. Mikasa jumped out of the way before Eren smashed his fist against his own face; where Mikasa was only moments ago. Eren stumbled and fell backward suddenly sitting down and leaning back against the boulder, he looked like he was completely unconscious while Mikasa and everyone else stood there in stunned shock.

After a painfully long few seconds Armin snapped back to reality "...I'll bring Eren out here! Mikasa you and everyone else protect the area from titans!" He ordered. Several titans soon began to advance forward toward Eren "Rico! You take care of the titan in the back! Mitabi and I will take the two in the front!" Ian shouted. Ian glanced at Eren "Eren's defenseless. We can't just leave him alone!" Ian added. "Hundreds of people have already died, because of him! Yet you want to keep going?!" Rico shouted. "Tell me then! How can we defeat the titans without sacrificing more lives...? Without losing our humanity?!" Ian demanded. "I... don't know." Rico said. "Exactly. And that means our only option is to risk our lives for that human weapon of ours." Ian said. "Hey it's a hell of a lot better than not doing anything." Achilles said.

The battle to keep Eren safe from the other titans took a long time, but when they finished, several soldiers had died, and many of the living ones were completely out of breath "Looks like you all did a good job, just leave the rest to me." Armin said before jumping down and standing on the Nape of the neck on Eren's titan body. "A titan's weak spot is one meter by ten centimeter area from the back of the neck to the nape..." Armin said as he stood on the back of the titan Eren's neck. Armin pulled out one of his blades and stuck both hooks down into the flesh of the seemingly unconscious titan, Mikasa gasped and Achilles' eyes widened as Armin raised the blade over his head, ready to stab into the titan's body. "It's alright... He'll be okay as long as I avoid the middle." Armin said. "It'll just hurt a little..." Armin said as he plunged the blade into the Eren's titan body.

The blade pierced through the titan's flesh and muscle with ease just as it was designed to do but stopped the second it stabbed one of Eren's arms inside of the titan. The titans eyes shot open as it sprang to its feet and let out a roar "EREN! Can you hear me?! Come out through here!!" Armin shouted slamming his fist into the titan's back. "What of your mother's killer?" Armin demanded as other soldiers fought to keep the titans that tried to get close to them at bay. "And besides... We're gonna explore outside the walls together someday, aren't we?" Armin asked. As Armin did this Achilles and Mikasa both worked together to kill several titans despite how tired the two of them clearly were. "Eren, tell me one thing, You know the one thing waiting for us outside the wall is hell. So why do you want to see it so badly?!" Armin demanded. "Why...? I'll tell you... Because I was born of this world!" Eren shouted in his head. Eren's titan body let out another roar as Armin dropped off his back. Eren then turned and looked at the boulder. Without hesitation Eren grabbed the boulder and forced it up onto his back, and he began to slowly walk toward the hole in the wall. Though the weight of the boulder made that difficult.

Everyone stared in awe as Eren did this "Eren..." Mikasa said with a smile. "MIKASA!" Armin shouted as he propelled himself onto the roof where everyone was standing; causing everyone to snap back to reality. "Eren did it! Now we just need to get him to go to the gate safely and we win!!" Armin shouted. Everyone stayed silent for a few more seconds "Give it your best! Don't let any titans get close to Eren!" Ian shouted. Every soldier on the roof propelled themselves away and toward Eren "We are going to win." Achilles thought to himself. The group managed to slaughter any of the titans that got too close to Eren but it was not without cost, the number of remaining soldiers was cut in half by the time Eren had finally gotten close to the wall, sadly however that hole was where the titans were still getting in through.

Achilles propelled himself above them followed by Mikasa and Armin while the others stayed below, the three titans that had just entered the Trost District swatted at the other soldiers like flies but couldn't hit any "We take those three out and let Eren seal the hole, Mikasa take the fifteen meter titan on the left, I'll take the one on the right. Armin, I think you can figure out what to do." Achilles said pointing at the middle titan which was ten meters tall. Both Mikasa and Armin nodded and they detached their hooks from the walls and flew down at the titans like meteorites. The three of them killed their targets with ease. But they had to move away quickly as another fifteen meter titan showed up, it tried to grab Mikasa but missed. Achilles and Mikasa ran at the new titan and Rico suddenly appeared out of nowhere, she lodged her blades into the titan's right cheek but that didn't deter it for long as it soon tried to grab Mikasa again, Mikasa slid under its enormous hand and latched one of her hooks to the back of the monster's neck and she swung up to the titan's weak spot and sliced its head halfway off "Come on Eren!!!" Armin shouted. And with one last roar Eren slammed the boulder into the hole in the Trost District wall, sealing the other titans out. There was no way in hell they were getting passed that.

Everyone stood once again in stunned silence among the steam from titan corpses, and the blood of their fallen comrades. Rico fell to her knees "Everyone... Your sacrifice wasn't in vain..." Rico said before shooting off a flare signifying the mission was a success. "Today, for the first time... humanity has won against the titans..." Rico said. Armin launched himself up and cut Eren out of his titan body, Eren was unconscious when Armin managed to pull him out. Achilles ran over to see if Eren was alright and he seemed to be unharmed however their single moment of peace was interrupted as two ten meter titans with psychotic grins and dead eyes stared down at them. Achilles drew his blades as one of the titans reached down for him but before it could grab him someone in a green cloak flew in from out of nowhere and killed the first titan, they swung around again and began to spin in the air like a flying sawblade. Severing the second titan's vitals. When the person stood up on the corpse of one of the fallen titans Mikasa ran up to Achilles "Look..." Mikasa said. Achilles and everyone else soon noticed the emblem of 'Wings of Freedom' on the back of the cloak which only went halfway down their arms the person was wearing.

Their savior turned to face them "Alright... What the hell is going on here?" The person asked with a stone gaze. "Titans soon began to advance toward the boulder "Never mind, anyone who has time; come with me." The man ordered. "The scout regiment?! They're back from outside the wall?!" A soldier shouted. "We'll talk about it later. Right now we need to wipe out the titans that are still here." The man said. "Hey, cadet with the silver hair, you look like you've still got some fight left in you. Come with me." The man ordered. "Mikasa, Armin, get Eren somewhere safe and stay with him." Achilles ordered. "But what about you?" Mikasa asked. "I'll go with the scout, don't worry, I'll be fine." Achilles said before propelling himself away. He glanced back momentarily and saw that both Armin and Mikasa carrying Eren away from the battle field with several garrison soldiers following them.

Achilles along with the scout regiment went around through the Trost District, killing titans left and right like insects, while they did need to stop momentarily to either save a comrade or refuel it never stopped them for long. It took many hours and several more lives were lost in the fight but eventually all of those titans were killed. Suddenly the man who saved Achilles earlier dropped down in front of him, the man was short; only about five feet two inches so he had to look up at Achilles to maintain eye contact "Follow me, the other scouts want to know what happened here." The man ordered. "Yes sir!" Achilles replied. "Hey I never got your name." Achilles said. "It's Levi." The man said. The two of them propelled themselves up onto the top of the wall where they were greeted by three others; one was a woman about a foot taller than Levi she had wide, light brown eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair tied up in an unkempt high ponytail with bangs parted down the middle, and she wore the normal scout uniform and a pair of square, thick-rimmed glasses that had bands strapped around her head. Another was a man; he had brown eyes and long blond hair which had a middle parting and a bun folded at the back, he matched the woman in terms of height, He had a small beard, small brown eyes and a serious face. Last person was another man he also equaled the woman in terms of height, the last man had a slightly darker skin tone. And he wore a short crop of brown hair that was kept to a point on the back of his head.

And now that things had finally calmed down, Achilles could actually make out more details about Levi apart from his height; like he had short, straight black hair styled in an undercut, as well as narrow, intimidating dull gray eyes with dark circles under them and a deceptively youthful face. "Who are all of you?" Achilles asked. "I'm Hange." The woman said. "My name is Eld Jinn." The blonde one said. "I'm Gunther Schultz." The one with the black hair said. "Anyway, it seems that all remaining titans within these walls are dead." Levi said. "What about the hole in the wall?" Eld asked turning and looking at what remained of the Trost district. "Not to worry..." Rico said as she walked up followed by Ian. "Engineers from the Garrison Regiment are already getting started with plans to fix it." Rico explained. "This is a great burden on the Garrison Regiment. I'm sorry we can't help more." Ian said. "No... We appreciate the reinforcements. If we were on our own..." Rico said trying not to think about the fact that she'd probably be dead without the reinforcements the Garrison Regiment sent in.

"Well done, Levi." Ian said. "If you want to thank anyone thank this kid instead." Levi said gesturing to Achilles who looked at Levi surprised. "...A cadet?" Ian said equally surprised. "A member of the 104th Cadet Corps, just like Eren Jaeger, who blocked the hole in the wall." Rico explained. "You may not have noticed it Erwin, but I had no idea this soldier was a freshly graduated cadet." Hange said amazed. "I see... You did well to stand up to your fears and fight, cadet." Ian said. Achilles saluted Ian "You really did amazingly today. I think you'll make a fine soldier." Hange said standing on her tip toes trying to lean into Achilles' face.

A/N: Okay after some lengthy deliberation I've settled on three candidates to pair Achilles with: Mikasa, Hange, and Sasha. But I'm not sure which of them to actually pair him with though I'm currently leaning toward Mikasa. If someone else has any other ideas I'd actually love to hear them


End file.
